STRENGTH BEHAVIOUR OF CONCRETE USING FOUNDRY SAND AS AGGREGATE

Abstract

The indiscriminate dumping of used foundry sand has led to environmental pollution and unwarranted occupation of space by this waste product. Since the trend all over the world now is the preservation of natural environment from pollutant. This paper has looked at the best and effective way of managing the waste foundry sand. Physical and chemical test were carried out on samples of foundry sand, to know its usefulness as alternative aggregate in concrete. Fine aggregate in concrete was partially replaced with foundry sand at 0%, 25%, 50%, 75%, and 100%. Compressive tests were carried out on sixty samples of concrete cubes of dimension 150 mm x 150 mm x 150 mm. each twelve samples was used for each aggregate composition. The pure aggregate gave a 28 days concrete strength of 20.79 N/mm², while 25% foundry gave 19.62 N/mm², other samples gave results that were very poor due to the presence of large clay particles. Foundry sand can be applied to fine aggregate in concrete up to 25% inclusion.